“Kyler, stop! Oh my god, please stop. You’re gonna kill him.” I lunged myself at Kyler. The fear of Kyler leaving the house in handcuffs becoming a very real possibility. “Kyler! Please!” I cried, tears now streaking down my face as a bunch of other guys came over and peeled Kyler off the guy. Kyler was fighting them all off. I was shocked at how strong he was with so much adrenaline pumping in his system.
“You ever look at my sister, talk to her, breathe the same air as her, and I will come back and kill you. You and your fucking piece of shit friends better stay the fuck away or I’ll make sure you’re sent back to that podunk trailer park you’re from,” Kyler spat, grabbing my hand and walking out.
“That’s it?” I asked, shaking my hand out of his grip. “You go in there, beat the shit out of that guy and you just walk away?” Kyler shrugged, silent. “Where I come from, they would have held you down and tag-teamed you.”
“Sinclairs own this town. He’s some scholarship kid, most of them on the football team are. They know that this is their only way out. Their brother-in-arms isn’t worth losing the free ride. Now they at least know to tread very lightly.” He shrugged his shoulders before climbing on the back of his bike. “Get in the car and go home. I’ll see you there,” he said, while sitting on his bike, staring at me. “Now,” he barked.
I didn’t want to add more stress to the night, so I quietly got into the car, started the engine and drove towards the mausoleum. Watching the whole time in the rearview as Kyler followed me.
14
“The whole world is divided for me into two parts: one is she, and there is all happiness, hope, light; the other is where she is not, and there is dejection and darkness...” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
Kyler
I managed to arrive at the house at the same time as Madison. Pulling up right behind her in the driveway, I could still feel my temper rising. The drive hadn’t done much to calm me down. All I could picture was my sister laying in that hospital bed, pale and broken. I waited until Madison got out of the car before turning off the engine and climbing off my bike. She was already heading towards her guesthouse. I didn’t want the night to end like this. I needed her in that moment. For what, I wasn’t sure; I just knew I didn’t want my time with her to end. Not yet.
“Maddy!” I yelled, drawing her attention back to me, the moonlight hitting her at the perfect angle, making her more beautiful than ever.
She waited patiently and I took my time walking to her, enjoying holding her steady gaze with mine each step. When I finally reached her, I stopped to take her in. Silence swallowed us, warm and welcoming, like everything with her. Silence didn’t seem to frighten her, her lips tipped and her eyes danced with a breath of defiance, as if she actually enjoyed the way I toyed with her. She looked so relaxed, embracing the quiet between us.
“I know you like books. But do you like music?” I asked, finally breaking the silence.
She nodded, looking a little thrown off guard by the utter normalcy of my question. I offered her my hand to take her into my guesthouse, somewhere that I’d never invited anyone beyond immediate family and the cleaning staff.
But I really didn’t want to be alone right then and unfortunately for the little mouse, she was the only person I wanted near me.
“Welcome to my humble abode.” I opened the door, ushering her in before I closed it behind us. “Want anything to drink?”
“A glass of water would be great. Thanks.” Her gaze took in the main room. To her it must have looked over-the-top elegant, it probably didn’t look like the place Kyler Sinclair would live in. “I love what you’ve done with the decorating.” She smiled while holding up a Swarovski elephant.
“I’m only going to be here for a year. I figured there was no point bothering to switch up Monica’s decor.” I handed her a glass, taking the fragile elephant from her hands and returning it to the shelf. “She really likes these ugly things. She has one in the main house that cost her fifty Gs. The thing is a fuckin’ eye sore.”
I walked over to the old sound system, surrounded by records.
“Your collection is pretty amazing.” She knelt beside me, watching as I shifted through the vinyls.
“It’s the only thing I couldn’t live without. Well, that and my bike. What kind of music do you like?”
“Everything and anything.”
“That’s not very picky.” I tugged at my piercing as I sifted through the albums.
“Music is about emotion for me. No matter what the genre, there’s always a message to convey.” She paused, before hurrying to ask, “What did that guy mean back there--from quarterback to loser? Did you play football with them?”
I didn’t answer. Hated the truth of it on my lips. But I couldn’t lie to her, not about this too. “For a while.”
“Were you good?”
I cracked a smile at her direct question. “Good enough to throw a record-breaking season for the Cougars. I was so pissed when I came back from boarding school, I lit my jersey on fire and watched it burn from the pool deck. Just one of the reasons Monica prefers me sleeping far away from her, out here in the pool house.”
“Wow.” Her eyes dropped from the ring in my lip to the inked knuckles, then back to my gaze. “Full of surprises, aren’t you, Sinclair?”
“I like keeping you on your toes.”
“So what changed--with football--I mean?”
I shook my head. “What didn’t change?”
“Do you always answer questions with more questions?”
“Are you always so direct about business
